Visualizing the Broncos: San Diego State

BSU theoretically had no business walking out of The Stadium Formerly Known as Qualcomm with a victory. The Broncos were 5.5 point dogs, the Aztecs had the second best rushing attack in the country, and were primed to take the torch for the Group of Five by calling Daddy out for a fight in the front lawn.

Oops. SDSU wasn’t prepared.

I mean, really not ready for this.

Uh oh, MWC. The intensity is back.

9:45ish – Boise Is a State of Mind

Boise’s offense still was not exactly the finely tuned machine that we all wanted to see, but it didn’t matter. The OL is functioning very well, opening up copious room for Mattison and keeping our QB from being ground into dust. When the O needed to come together, make a drive, and eat the clock, mostly, they did. Both Rypien and Cozart played well – Montell giving a nice burst of energy when it was needed most, and Rypien completing almost 75% of his passes and even popping off a 31 yard run!

Why didn’t it matter? Who needs an offense when the D and Special Teams can put up 14 points before the offense has more than 1 first down? The Bronco defense was dominant. That’s really the only term that really covers the beatdown this group put on the Aztecs offense.

The real difference in this game, defense v. defense, were Boise’s 4 sacks, and 12 tackles for loss. 9 different Broncos tackled somebody behind the line of scrimmage, and held the much heralded SDSU rush game to 83 yards. Rashaad Penny, who is a pretty good runner, got held to about half his normal production. It’s easy to contain a back like Penny when the DL wins almost every battle at the line of scrimmage. The LB’s and DE’s were at the buffet all night.

A come from behind victory over a ranked opponent on the road was just the unknown goal this team needed to meet this season. The gentlemen in the white hats obviously learned a ton about themselves last night, as did Bronco Nation. It seems everyone gained some confidence in this victory. Those who hang out on Twitter during games were in for a treat – postgame, it was Bronco Twitter at its cocky, petty best. The official account started us off right.